JP2586081B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Overview] The present invention relates to a printer capable of performing multi-color printing by attaching a ribbon shift unit as necessary, which has a basic configuration of mono-color printing. The purpose of this is to provide a carrier on which a print head opposed to the platen is mounted, with the aim of standardizing the basic components that enable A printer capable of selectively mounting a single-color ink ribbon cassette and a multi-color ink ribbon cassette with an ink ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon stretched between the print head and the multi-color ink ribbon cassette. An attachment portion for a ribbon shift unit for performing a dynamic shift is provided,
When the multicolor ink ribbon cassette is mounted, the ribbon shift unit can be mounted on the mounting portion of the ribbon shift unit of the carrier.

Further, the ribbon shift unit is provided with a detecting means for detecting that a multicolor ink ribbon cassette is mounted.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a printer having a basic configuration of single color printing and capable of performing multicolor printing by attaching a ribbon shift unit as needed.

Wire dot printers that form characters and the like using dots have been put into practical use as printers such as terminals of various computers and word processors.

Among them, serial dot printers form and record characters and dots in dots, so they can form a very large number of characters and so on, so they are used as terminals in office automation (OA). Has been further expanded.

Recently, in addition to single-color printing, the demand for multi-color printing has been increasing, and it has become necessary to cope with it. [Prior Art] A conventional multicolor printer has a platen 2 on both side frames 1 as shown in a schematic plan view of a main part shown in FIG.
Is rotatably supported, and the printing paper 3 is wound around the peripheral surface of the platen 2 as shown by a two-dot chain line,
The printing paper 3 is transported in the direction of arrow B by a transport mechanism not shown.

A guide shaft 5 and a feed screw 6 are provided in parallel with the platen 2 on the front side of the platen 2 and on the near side in the drawing, and are provided in parallel with the platen 2. The carrier 4 screwed to the screw 6 is arranged.

The feed screw 6 is connected to a motor (not shown), and the carrier 4 is reciprocated in the direction of arrow CD by controlling the rotation of the motor in the forward and reverse directions.

A print head 7 having a plurality of printing wires for forming printing by dots and a plurality of printing magnets for driving the printing wires is mounted on the carrier 4.

4, the ink ribbon cassette 8 is mounted on a plate 9, as shown in FIG. The rear end (right side of the paper) 9a of the plate 9 contacts the peripheral surface of the cam 10 attached to the pulse motor 16 and is urged in the direction of arrow H by the tension coil spring 17 so that the peripheral surface of the cam 10 Pressed against.

An intermediate portion of the plate 9 is supported by a rotation fulcrum 11, and the rotation of the cam 10 around the rotation fulcrum 11 causes the ink ribbon cassette 8 to be rotationally shifted in the direction of the arrow EF.

An arm 12 is provided on the carrier 4 so as to be rotatable about a rotation fulcrum 13 in the direction of the arrow EF similarly to the plate 9, and a distal end 12 a of the arm 12 (left side in the drawing) is a ribbon guide 14. Is engaged. The rear end (right side of the paper) 12b of the arm 12 is urged in the direction of arrow G by a tension coil spring 15 attached to the carrier 4, so that the arm 12 is pressed against the rear end of the plate 9 and is slidable. Is in contact with

As shown in FIG. 6, the color ink ribbons 18 for multicolor printing accommodated in the ink ribbon cassette 8 are sequentially arranged as black 18a, blue 18b, red 18
As shown in c and yellow 18d, the color ink is attached and formed in a stripe shape.

In order to perform printing of a desired color with the multicolor printer configured as described above, the ink ribbon 18 is shifted up and down so that the print head 7 is set to a desired color band position. The shift is performed by the following shift means.

That is, the color band position with respect to the position of the print head 7 is set by rotating the cam 10 by a predetermined angle by rotating the pulse motor 16 in either the forward or reverse direction.
This is performed by rotating the ink ribbon cassette 8 mounted thereon and the ribbon guide 14 by the arm 12 in any of the directions of arrows EF.

In addition to the above configuration, the multicolor printer has a configuration in which the ink ribbon cassette is mounted on a carrier and the ink ribbon cassette is shifted by a shift mechanism such as a motor and a cam provided on the carrier.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

As described above, the conventional multicolor printer has a considerably complicated configuration as compared with the single-color printer because it has the shift mechanism of the ink ribbon cassette, so that it is expensive.

At present, most of ordinary printing is single-color printing, and it is necessary to obtain a separate multi-color printer where multi-color printing is required. Alternatively, it is conceivable to prepare an expensive multi-color printer for use in multi-color printing and use it for single-color printing, but this is uneconomical until the necessary time for multi-color printing.

On the other hand, printer manufacturers have a problem that it is difficult to share the mechanism of the single-color printer and the multi-color printer, and in particular, it is difficult to reduce the price of the multi-color printer.

In view of the above-described problems of the conventional technology, the present invention aims to standardize the basic components that enable single-color printing and multi-color printing, and to easily handle multi-color printing as necessary. It is intended to do so.

[Means for solving the problem]

An aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a carrier on which a print head opposed to a platen is mounted, and an ink ribbon stretched between the opposed platen and the print head. A single-color ink ribbon cassette and a multi-color ink ribbon cassette which can selectively mount the ink ribbon cassette accommodating the multi-color ink ribbon cassette, wherein the carrier is provided with a mounting portion of a ribbon shift unit for rotating and shifting the multi-color ink ribbon cassette. In this printer, a ribbon shift unit can be attached to the attachment portion of the ribbon shift unit of the carrier when a multicolor ink ribbon cassette is mounted.

Further, the printer is provided with a detecting means for detecting that the multicolor ink ribbon cassette is mounted on the ribbon shift unit.

[Action]

According to the configuration summary of the printer of the present invention, since only the mounting portion of the ribbon shift unit for rotating and shifting the multicolor ink ribbon cassette is provided from the beginning on the carrier, the time until multicolor printing is not required is provided. In the state, a single-color ink ribbon cassette is mounted to perform single-color printing, and at a stage where multi-color printing is required, a ribbon shift unit and a multi-color ink ribbon cassette are prepared, and a ribbon shift unit is attached to a mounting portion of the ribbon shift unit of the carrier. By attaching the unit, a multicolor ink ribbon cassette can be mounted.

Even with the ribbon shift unit attached,
The single-color ink ribbon cassette and the multi-color ink ribbon cassette can be selectively mounted.

By providing a detection means for detecting that the multicolor ink ribbon cassette is mounted on the ribbon shift unit, it is possible to perform discrimination control with the mounted state of the single color ink ribbon cassette.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the printer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the printer of the present invention, in which only essential parts are shown in a schematic side sectional view. In FIG. 1, a platen 2 is rotatably supported by side frames (not shown) on both sides (perpendicular to the paper surface).
The printing paper is wound around the peripheral surface of the printer, and the printing paper is transferred by a transfer mechanism (both not shown).

A guide shaft 5 and a feed screw 6 are provided on the front surface (right side of the paper surface) of the platen 2 on both sides thereof in parallel with the platen 2 so as to be engaged with the guide shaft 5 slidably. A carrier 29 screwed to the feed screw 6 is arranged.

The feed screw 6 is connected to a motor (not shown), and the carrier 29 is reciprocated in a direction parallel to the platen 2 (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface) by the forward and reverse rotation of the motor.

A print head 7 having a plurality of print wires for forming prints by dots and a plurality of print magnets for driving the print wires is opposed to the platen 2 with a gap therebetween. Will be installed.

As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the single-color ink ribbon cassette 2 is positioned by a positioning means (not shown) and removably mounted. The ink ribbon is stretched in a gap between the platen 2 and the print head 7. , A printer having a basic configuration for monochrome printing. The carrier 29 of this printer is provided with only a ribbon shift unit mounting portion (not shown), which will be described later, from the beginning.

If it is necessary to perform multi-color printing by the above-mentioned printer, it becomes possible by preparing and attaching a multi-color ink ribbon cassette and a ribbon shift unit. That is, the ribbon shift unit is as shown in FIG. Figure (a) is a perspective view, figure (b) is a side view, figure (c)
Is a plan view, and the main configuration of the ribbon shift unit 20 is composed of a shift lever 21 and turning means 22 for turning the shift lever 21 and is integrally attached to the bracket 30. .

The base of the shift lever 21 is rotatably supported by the bracket 30 around a fulcrum 21b, and the tip 21c is swingable.

The rotating means 22 is a motor mounted on the bracket 30.
24, and a shift cam 23 provided on the rotation shaft. A projection (cam follower) 21a formed in the middle of the shift lever 21 is slidably engaged with a spiral cam groove 23a on the side surface of the shift cam 23. Have been combined.

The forward and reverse rotation of the motor 24 causes the protrusion 21a to move in the radial direction of the shift cam 23 in accordance with the rotational position of the cam groove 23a, so that the tip end 21c of the shift lever 21 swings. I have.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ribbon shift unit 20 holds the bracket 30 with two screws 25.
Since it can be easily attached and fixed to the 29 ribbon shift unit mounting part, the user can also perform the installation work, so the user requests the ribbon shift unit 20 as necessary and changes the printer to support multi-color printing Can be done.

Although not shown, a cable for circuit connection for driving and controlling the ribbon shift unit 20 is a flexible cable, and a connector at the tip is connected to a connector connected to a control circuit provided in the printer.

As shown in FIG. 1, a multicolor ink ribbon cassette
19 is attached and supported so as to be rotatable about a middle fulcrum 19a in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the print head 7,
Mounted detachably. The front end portion 21 of the shift lever 21 is located below the front (platen 2 side) of the multicolor ink ribbon cassette 19.
c is contacted, and the lower rear side is urged to be pushed up by a leaf spring 27 provided on the carrier 29, so that the front side is always pressed against the tip 21 c of the shift lever 21.

As described above, by attaching the ribbon shift unit 20 and the multicolor ink ribbon cassette 19,
The ink ribbon 18 on the front of the multicolor ink ribbon cassette 19
The print head 7 is positioned in the gap between the print paper wound around the peripheral surface of the platen 2 and the print head 7.

The print control of the printer controls the ribbon shift unit 20
When the rotation means 22 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the forward direction or the reverse direction, the multicolor ink ribbon cassette 19 is rotated about the fulcrum 19a by the swing of the tip end 21c of the shift lever 21, and
The position of the ink ribbon 18 on the front surface is selectively moved to any position of a desired color band (shown in FIG. 6) 18a to 18d with respect to the print head 7.

In order to perform monochrome printing with the ribbon shift unit 20 attached, as shown by the double-dashed line in the side view of FIG. 3, the monochrome ink ribbon cassette 26 is mounted and positioned by positioning means (not shown). It can be done by attaching it as possible. Alternatively, a multi-color ink ribbon cassette 19 is mounted, the front side is set to the lower position as in a state 19 'shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, and the uppermost color band 18a of the ink ribbon 18 shown in FIG. That is, it can be performed by setting the print head 7 so as to face the black position.

Whether the installed ink ribbon cassette is for monochrome printing
As shown in FIG. 3, the ribbon shift unit 20 is provided with a sensor as a detecting means, for example, a microswitch 28, if necessary for detecting whether it is for multicolor printing.
Since the single-color ink ribbon cassette 26 is thinner than the multi-color ink ribbon cassette 19, the actuator 28a of the microswitch 28 is at a position 28a 'shown by a dotted line,
Do not operate the switch. With this signal, the printer is automatically set to the monochrome (black) print mode.

When the multicolor ink ribbon cassette 19 is mounted, the actuator 28a is pushed down to the position indicated by the solid line to operate the switch. With this signal, the printer is automatically set to the multi-color printing mode.

By providing the above-described ink ribbon cassette detecting means 28, even if a single-color ink ribbon cassette 26 is mounted, even if a multi-color printing command is issued to the printer, this command can be ignored. By designating the printer to obtain the print data, monochrome printing can be performed, and the processing capability of the printer can be improved.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described in detail above, according to the printer of the present invention, only a mounting portion of the ribbon shift unit for rotating and shifting the multicolor ink ribbon cassette is provided from the beginning in the printer having the basic configuration of the single color printing, By attaching an integrated ribbon shift unit including a rotating means as required, printing can be easily upgraded to a multi-color printing printer, which is economical and practical. The effect is very pronounced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of the printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a ribbon shift unit of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a state provided with means for detecting the type of an ink ribbon cassette. Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view of a main part of a conventional multicolor printer, Fig. 5 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a partially enlarged view of a multicolor printing ink ribbon. In each of the drawings, reference numeral 2 denotes a platen, 3 denotes printing paper, 5 denotes a guide shaft, 6 denotes a feed screw, 7 denotes a printing head, 18 denotes an ink ribbon, 19 denotes a multicolor ink ribbon cassette, 19a denotes a fulcrum, and 20 denotes a ribbon shift. Unit, 21 is a shift lever, 21a is a protrusion, 21b is a fulcrum, 21c is a tip, 22 is a rotating means, 23 is a shift cam, 23a is a cam groove, 24 is a motor, 25 is a screw, 26 is a single color ink ribbon cassette, 27 Denotes a leaf spring, 28 denotes a detection means, a microswitch, 28a denotes an actuator, 29 denotes a carrier, and 30 denotes a bracket.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An ink ribbon cassette containing a carrier on which a print head opposed to a platen is mounted and containing an ink ribbon stretched between the platen and the print head is provided as a single-color ink ribbon cassette or a multi-color ink ribbon cassette. Wherein the carrier is provided with a mounting portion of a ribbon shift unit for rotating and shifting the multicolor ink ribbon cassette, and the ribbon of the carrier is mounted when the multicolor ink ribbon cassette is mounted. A printer characterized in that a ribbon shift unit can be attached to an attachment portion of the shift unit. 2. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising detection means for detecting that a multicolor ink ribbon cassette is mounted on said ribbon shift unit.